Thursday, May 9, 2013

The
engineering aspirant students from the Islands who appeared for the JEE (Mains)
2013 examinations were shocked to find that there were many discrepancies in
the recorded responses as it differed from the one they had marked on the OMR
sheets.

On
the day of results on 7th May 2013, they realized their folly when another
shock jolted them. They came to know off
late that they had missed the
opportunity of challenging the discrepancies as the public notice issued by
CBSE for revaluation on 30 April 2013 had not hit the mark in the Islands and had expired long back on 2nd May 2013.

"There
was no information from any sources about the dates of revaluation," said
an anxious student from Port Blair. "There was no news in the The Daily
Telegrams or All India Radio. Moreover we did not receive any SMS from CBSE,
which had earlier wished us through SMS even before entering the examination
hall," he added. Moreover, the timeframe was too short even if any student
had planned to submit objections.

Those
students who have scored the cut off marks in JEE Mains can appear for JEE
(Advanced) for admissions into IITs.

Before
the results of JEE (Main), CBSE was announced on 7th May 2013, a public notice
on revaluation was published by CBSE on its website on 30th April
2013 asking the candidates to view OMR Answer Sheets in respect of candidates
who appeared for pen/paper based examination and questions and responses marked
by candidates who appeared for computer based examination.

Immediately after the news flash of JEE Main 2013 results the students from all parts of these
Islands who checked their results were shocked to learn that there were huge
differences in the marks published in
JEE Main website as compared to their anticipated marks which they had worked
out with answer keys. Further, most of them even did not know that their OMR Answer Sheets had been published on the
JEE Main website from 30th April, 2013 to 2nd May, 2013
for checking and submission of objections,” and this is because the JEE Main
2013, Secretariat had not mentioned any date of publication of OMR answer sheet
in their bulletin.

The
time period for viewing and submission of recorded responses as per the public
notice was only 3 days from 30 April 2013 to 02 May 2013. The
objections/challenges submitted by post or in person were also not acceptable.
Moreover, the prescribed fee of Rs 500/- in form of Demand Draft should have
reached the Regional Office or JEE Main Office before 4th May 2013
up to 5.00 PM.

The
actions
and direction found in aforesaid public notice were purely impractical and
insufficient considering the logistic, connectivity and geographical constraints
of these Islands. It’s quite obvious that it’s
impossible for the candidates residing either at CampbellBay or any other interior part of
these Islands as they may not know that such
public notice has been published as there were no defined schedule published in
advance for viewing and submission of objection in respect of OMR answer
sheets. Thereafter even if they had come to know they may not be able to submit
their response challenge in the stipulated time due to remoteness of area,
internet connectivity and other logistics.

There might be more than 56
Senior Secondary School functioning in this territory located in various far
flung Islands. It’s also estimated that more
than 2000 candidates appeared for JEE Main 2013 from these Islands, where there
is no internet connectivity and if they wanted to access the JEE Main website
they had to travel to their respective district headquarters.

It is also evident from Joint Entrance Examination (Main) -
2013,Information Bulletin, Page 12, Para 2.10-
V which says, “The
OMR answer sheets of all the candidates along with the responses captured will
be put on JEE (Main) website for verification by the candidates” which is
incomplete and not supported with any timeframe and mode of
revaluation/objections procedures.

The Andaman and Nicobar Administration had
been from time to time publishing information and notices in the local newspapers
and on AIR news bulletin but in this
case, Administration too failed to publish any information related with the
public notice on viewing of OMR Answer Sheets in print
or electronic media resulting in chaos among the students who appeared for JEE
Main 2013 . It is also pertinent to note that CBSE had been using SMS facility
throughout the process of examination, but the notice about revaluation was not
sent through SMS too.

This state of affairs have put the future of more
than 2000 students of these remote islands in jeopardy and they are being
deprived of their rights to know and submit objections to the JEE Main -2013
Secretariat/CBSE about discrepancy in their OMR Answer sheets.

"The Andaman and Nicobar Administration can still take up the
issue with JEE Main Secretariat/CBSE to work out a mechanism for revaluation/for viewing of OMR Answer Sheets in respect of the candidates appeared
for pen/paper based from these Islands and
submission of objections in the event of discrepancy," said a worried
parent .

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About The Light of Andamans

The Light of Andamans’ was born out of the zeal and determination to fight against the suffocating Kafkaesque atmosphere on the society that existed even after 30 years of Independence under bureaucratic rule. It was a hangover of the ‘Raj’that extended much too long in the Islands.

The Light of Andamans’ was started in 1975. The paper had always been a crusader, taking up the causes that no other newspaper would touch. In doing so, it very often stepped on the toes of the authorities and had to face persecution in the form of denial of advertisements and numerous court cases against it. For a small stint, the publication came to a halt in 2003.

Gezira Publications Private Limited took over the paper in the year 2005 and transferred the title in a bid to revive the second oldest newsmagazine from extinction and also to carry forward the mission.

The Newsmagazine, under the new management, has undergone a sea change both in form and content. It turned into a full-fledged tabloid with 10 pages with plenty of photographs making both pleasing to the eyes and soothing for the mind. “It has acquired a position where it influences the policies in vital matters concerning the development of the islands, protection of aboriginal tribes and addressing the problems of the disadvantaged groups. The newsmagazine is known and appreciated for its bold, free, fair and balanced reporting.”

Late Govinda Raju and his team worked very hard to rebuild the reputation, goodwill and a healthy new image of the newsmagazine brick by brick. After the demise of Mr Raju in 2010, the magazine is now being edited by Zubair Ahmed and published by Basudev Dass. The newsmagazine continues its mission of highlighting policy issues pertaining to the Islands.